| Nigel Smart | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Nigel Smart | ||
| Born | (1969-05-21)21 May 1969 (age 56) | ||
| Original teams | Christies Beach (SFL) South Adelaide (SANFL) | ||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 91 kg (14 st 5 lb; 201 lb) | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1988–1992, 2004 | South Adelaide | 78 (29) | |
| 1991–2004 | Adelaide | 278 (116) | |
| Total | 356 (145) | ||
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| South Australia | |||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
Club
Representative
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Nigel James Smart (born 21 May 1969) is a formerAustralian rules footballer who played for theAdelaide Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL).[1] Smart played as a defender, and he was part of Adelaide's inaugural team in the1991 AFL season. He was a two-timepremiership player, a three-timeAll-Australian, and the first person to play 250 matches for Adelaide.
Following his retirement, he worked in football administration. He was the Adelaide Football Club'schief operating officer from 2013 to 2020 and was part of the club's decision to move intoeSports.
Smart was raised in the southern suburbs ofAdelaide,South Australia. He studied aBachelor of Arts atFlinders University, majoring in geography and politics.[2]
Smart made his senior football debut in 1988 while at university, playing forSouth Adelaide in theSANFL.[2]
Smart was in theAdelaide Football Club's squad for their inaugural season in1991. Smart was named at full-back for Adelaide's Round One match againstHawthorn, lining up against Hawthorn's full-forwardJason Dunstall.[3] During the match, Smart had six kicks and nine handballs and took six marks. At the end of the 1991 season, Smart became Adelaide's first everAll-Australian, selected in theback pocket.
During the1992 pre-season, Adelaide went on a pre-season camp inRapid Bay. As part of the camp, a motivational speaker encouraged the players towalk over hot coals for each other. Smart was the first to do so, and suffered blisters and first-degree burns on the soles of his feet.Bob Hammond, the club's chairman, was present, and after seeing Smart's injuries from walking over the coals he called off the exercise. Smart recovered from the burns and played in a practice match less than a week later.[4][5]
Smart was one of the key players in Adelaide's resurgence under coachMalcolm Blight. He was the team's vice captain (withMark Bickley as the team's captain) in 1997 and 1998, when the team won back-to-back premierships.[6] In the1997 AFL Grand Final againstSt Kilda, he kicked the final goal of the match as Adelaide won their first AFL premiership. He also played in Adelaide's win in the1998 AFL Grand Final, when the Crows became the first team to win back-to-back premierships since the competition was renamed to the AFL in 1990.
In the first part of Smart's career, he was not a full-time footballer. Through the Crows' premiership years, Smart trained with the teams three times a week and spent most of his time at day jobs to supplement his income. He worked insales andmanagement, first forSouth Australian Brewing Company, then forToyota.[2] Smart retired from football at the end of the2004 AFL season.[2]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 1991 | Adelaide | 7 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 139 | 123 | 262 | 47 | 28 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 7.0 | 6.2 | 13.1 | 2.4 | 1.4 |
| 1992 | Adelaide | 7 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 131 | 109 | 240 | 35 | 31 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 7.7 | 6.4 | 14.1 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| 1993 | Adelaide | 7 | 22 | 23 | 17 | 220 | 136 | 356 | 81 | 38 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 10.0 | 6.2 | 16.2 | 3.7 | 1.7 |
| 1994 | Adelaide | 7 | 17 | 13 | 19 | 123 | 87 | 210 | 56 | 22 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 7.2 | 5.1 | 12.4 | 3.3 | 1.3 |
| 1995 | Adelaide | 7 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 189 | 152 | 341 | 59 | 49 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 8.6 | 6.9 | 15.5 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
| 1996 | Adelaide | 7 | 22 | 7 | 8 | 208 | 116 | 324 | 55 | 57 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 9.5 | 5.3 | 14.7 | 2.5 | 2.6 |
| 1997 | Adelaide | 7 | 22 | 13 | 8 | 253 | 88 | 341 | 84 | 47 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 11.5 | 4.0 | 15.5 | 3.8 | 2.1 |
| 1998 | Adelaide | 7 | 24 | 13 | 12 | 304 | 122 | 426 | 88 | 80 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 12.7 | 5.1 | 17.8 | 3.7 | 3.3 |
| 1999 | Adelaide | 7 | 21 | 12 | 10 | 217 | 117 | 334 | 69 | 30 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 10.3 | 5.6 | 15.9 | 3.3 | 1.4 |
| 2000 | Adelaide | 7 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 178 | 115 | 293 | 58 | 28 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 9.9 | 6.4 | 16.3 | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| 2001 | Adelaide | 7 | 23 | 7 | 11 | 223 | 133 | 356 | 78 | 43 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 9.7 | 5.8 | 15.5 | 3.4 | 1.9 |
| 2002 | Adelaide | 7 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 150 | 109 | 259 | 63 | 44 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 6.5 | 4.7 | 11.3 | 2.7 | 1.9 |
| 2003 | Adelaide | 7 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 133 | 125 | 258 | 57 | 36 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 12.3 | 2.7 | 1.7 |
| 2004 | Adelaide | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 35 | 21 | 56 | 14 | 11 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 5.8 | 3.5 | 9.3 | 2.3 | 1.8 |
| Career | 278 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 2503 | 1553 | 4056 | 844 | 544 | 131 | 116 | 9.0 | 5.6 | 14.6 | 3.0 | 2.0 | ||
After his retirement from football, Smart lived for a period of time inCanada andFrance.[2] He returned to Adelaide, and was an unsuccessful candidate for theLiberal Party for theelectoral district of Norwood in the2006 South Australian state election.[8] After his failure in the election, he worked for a disability organisation called Disability Works, then returned to university to study aMaster of Business Administration at theUniversity of Adelaide.[2]
Upon retiring from football, Smart also became a member of the Adelaide Football Club's board of directors in 2005. He served as deputy chairman toBill Sanders in 2009 and in 2013 became the club's chief operating officer.[6] In 2017, he was part of the club's decision to enter intoeSports, which became a source of sponsorship for the club.[6] Smart ceased working at the club in 2020.[6]
In August 2021, Smart became thechief executive officer ofCrime Stoppers South Australia.[9]
